Grey hair happens: L'Oreal Root Cover Up

Grey hair. It happens. I see women rocking grey hair, and I hope I can do that one day. Right now, my hair has a mixture of highlights and lowlights, and the few greys I have, used to just blend in for the most part. For years, I went about 10 weeks between coloring sessions, which was awesome. Lately I've noticed that my natural hair color seem to be coming in a bit darker, which makes the greys more noticeable. Thank you, Father Time, Mother Nature, and genes! So I've switched to an 8 week schedule and I'm alternating having just the roots touched up with having highlights and lowlights done all over. I may end up needing to go every 6 weeks instead, but we'll give this a try first!


So what does a girl do when she has just a little grey showing through? It's not quite time for a touch-up, and you can't seem to find that sweet spot in criss-crossing your part that hides the grey? I decided that it was time to give one of the root concealer products a try. There are several available. Some are like mascara - in tubes with wands. Some are powders. And some are spray-on products. There's even a crayon. I decided to go with the L'Oreal Root Cover Up because it was available at my local grocery for around $11 (it's less expensive on Amazon.)

The Root Cover Up is ammonia-free, peroxide-free, and contains no synthetic dyes. It says it will last until you shampoo it out, and is quick-drying, leaving no sticky residue.


This product comes in 8 shades: Light to Medium Blonde, Dark Blonde, Light Golden Brown, Light Brown, Medium Brown, Dark Brown, Red, and Black. Both blonde shades looked very yellow on the color chart. I watched a YouTube video of someone demonstrating how to use this product and she used one of the blonde colors. It was extremely yellow. My blonde is beige/neutral, so I knew that wasn't going to work. The darker part of my hair is a dark blonde/light brown, and I know my colorist puts some chocolate color in it, so I opted for the Golden Brown shade. It doesn't really look golden, it's just a "bronde" color (in my opinion), and it matched fairly well. 


The can has an extended, thin nozzle to direct the spray onto the roots, but it's a little difficult to depress the button - which means if you try to depress it slowly the product will come out in a splatter and if you depress it normally, it comes out quickly and is difficult to control where it is being sprayed. (See spray patterns in photo below)


Since I only have a few greys, I really didn't want to spray my entire root area/hairline. I also didn't want the darker color getting on my highlights. Since I had to depress the button firmly, I found it difficult to direct the nozzle to those few greys with the force of the spray coming out of the can. You need to hold the can 4-6 inches from your head, so even with the thin nozzle to direct the spray, that increases the range of the spray. (Note: The directions on the can say to hold the can 6-8 inches from hair, but the directions on the website say 4-6 inches.) If you were trying to cover a lot of greys, or if your hair was all one color, it probably wouldn't matter. The day that I sprayed it on, someone asked me if I had been to the salon and had my hair colored darker. I did have my hair pulled up in a ponytail, which shows all of the darker underlayers and hides most of the blonde highlights - so that probably had a lot to do with it, too. Sigh. At least it looked professional, right? And no grey.

I decided that I was going to try to find a solution to my dilemma. What ended up working best for me is using a disposable mascara spoolie brush to apply the product to my greys. I hold the spoolie brush over a paper towel, and spray the Root Cover Up directly on the brush, then quickly brush it over/through the greys before the product dries. It's a little more work, but since I only shampoo my hair every 4-5 days, it's worth the extra time. I also found that applying it this way looks completely natural. It also keeps the product off the scalp/skin.



In the photos above, I tried to get a good shot of the before and after with my hair parted the same way. You can see how my roots are mostly darker with some grey - although some of those lighter hairs are actually blonde. So when I covered them, I tried to just cover the ones that were grey. And it's not easy to photograph the top of your own head! LOL! These photos were taken a week before my regular appointment for color, but I had to reschedule and wait 2 weeks. Ugh!

I will say that it does cover well, dries quickly, and you can comb/brush/style it just like the rest of your hair. At least when you apply it in the amounts that I did.

Reading other product reviews, it seems the biggest issue might be finding a color match, which is understandable. It's less of a problem if you're brushing the product in with a spoolie brush, but if you're trying to cover a larger area, it would be more crucial to have a good match.

Pros:

• Covers greys well.
• Dries quickly.
• Lasts until you shampoo it out.
• Can brush and style hair as usual (at least with the amount I used).
• Inexpensive.
• Doesn't rub off on clothing or sheets.

Cons:

• Packaging - difficult to control spray.
• May be difficult to find a color match.
• Can splatter on clothing and surrounding area (does clean up easily).

Overall, I like this product. I wish it was a little easier to use, but for the price, I'm okay with it. I'd like to try the bumble & bumble color stick, but I don't see me shelling out almost $30 for a crayon for my hair anytime soon. Especially when you still have to smooth it with your fingers.

Have you tried any root touch-up products? Do you have any favorites? Any failures?